The Porch Group, a home services search platform, has made its Nasdaq debut just in time for Christmas.
The stock, which went public through a deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) PropTech Acquisition Corporation, was down slightly after a short day of trading on Thursday, closing at $15.03 after starting the day at $15.50. Porch Group, Inc. is the name of the newly combined venture between PropTech and Porch.com.
Porch.com first announced plans to go public this past summer when it was valued at $523 million, due in part to a bounceback in demand for home services.
"Back in mid-March, it was hit hard like so many businesses. People stopped moving, people stopped doing projects in their homes, and that's what drives our business. Fortunately for us, starting mid-April, things really rebounded way better than we ever could have anticipated at that point in time," Matt Ehrlichman, Porch Group CEO, told Cheddar.
The free service is essentially a marketplace for homeowners looking to hire local contractors to complete a variety of projects ranging from in-house tech upgrades to cleaning gutters. While the company is based in Seattle, its services are available in all 50 states.
The company has been able to help a quarter of all U.S. homebuyers each month, he added. While Porch had been planning before the onset of the pandemic to go public, Ehrlichman said the SPAC deal allowed the company to fast-track that process.
"Given where Porch is, the business is just growing incredibly quickly. And given how much opportunity there is, getting public a year earlier allows us to be able to go do certain key acquisitions that will just continue to accelerate our growth," he continued.
Expansion efforts for Porch are already underway. Months after its launch in 2013, the company linked with Lowe's to provide customers that were already working on projects a chance to bring in the professionals. The company recently added licensed insurance agencies to its repertoire as well.
"What we're bringing to life for people who are moving is it should feel like it does to a CEO, where you're getting a corporate relocation and everything is handled for you and it's simple," Ehrlichman said.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
